Manchester Storm 6 Sheffield Steelers 2: Winning run ended in emphatic style across Pennines

Sheffield went four goals down inside 15 minutes and were never able to force their way back.

It was a relatively-humdrum Challenge Cup group encounter, but coach Aaron Fox had wanted to keep the momentum going, warning that losing can be "contagious."

The cross Pennine trip set them back, though, in their pursuit of consistency.

In September, Storm had beaten Steelers 5-2 at Altrincham however Manchester had lost their other two Cup outings and are bottom of Group C. They had been having it tough in the League too, with just two wins from seven matches.

But they like playing Steelers; this was their night.

Steelers, without Aaron Brocklehurst, got off to an awful start.

The game was only 59 seconds old when Scott Simmonds, assisted by Cody Thompson, beat Pavel Kantor in goal.

While Sheffield almost levelled through Nikolai Lemtyugov, it was Manchester who found the net again: Raymond Grewal, assisted by Scott Simmonds.

Could a bad start get any worse? Yes it could, with Grewal setting up Kyle Hope, for 3-0...with just eight minutes on the clock.

Storm had been ruthless, while Steelers had simply not made the most of their opportunities.

First liners Brendan Connolly, Michael Davies and Marco Vallerand tried to raise their team, but were finding Ginn in unyielding mood.

Ryan Finnerty's team withstood the pressure and banged in a fourth at 14:57, from Zach Sullivan.

The one-way goal traffic was interrupted by Sheffield's first of the night, Michael Davies scoring his eighth point in four games, shooting between Ginn's pads.

And all of a sudden a power play marker from John Armstrong (2-4) and a shot which banged the post from Vallerand suggested the game was not lost for Fox.

Tanner Eberle came close to further reducing the margin, after Steelers successfully killed a Davies penalty.

Sheffield survived a Connolly minor but then conceded a fifth goal, with Cody Thompson scoring an eye-catching individual effort at the half-way point.

The home side showed their determination with an epic 5-on-3 penalty kill - Storm were clearly wanting this more than your usual Cup group game.

Sheffield look to Vallerand first, when it comes to goals, but he took a boarding penalty at the start of the final period.

However, they had two more power plays awarded - but found Ginn in unyielding form.

Adam Hughesman popped in a power play sixth in the dying minutes of a forgettable night for Kantor and the rest.